Photo of the week: Giant of the sea
Crowds gathered at De Haan this week to see a dead fin whale that had been pulled ashore
‘It’s really beautiful’
Scientists from Ghent and Liege universities were on the scene to dissect the whale, which had died at sea. The scientists’ first job was to cut slices into the whale because gasses were building up inside of it, and they wanted to prevent the carcass from exploding and spilling its contents on to the coastline.
They then set to work cutting the animal into pieces for disposal and taking some samples for research purposes. “For us this is one big database of scientific material,” said Marjan Doom, veterinarian and director of the Ghent University Museum. “We will preserve a number of parts of the skeleton. The pelvic bones, lower jaw and flipper – his swimming ‘arm’ – are all very useful in illustrating evolution.”
Cause of death unknown
They will also try to determine the cause of death, though Doom said that the chance of that was unlikely. “People like to know that because that huge beast is laying here, and you have this feeling of powerlessness,” she told VRT. “But my experience tells me that the cause of death of a whale that washes ashore if very difficult to determine.”
People were indeed impressed by the spectacle. “It’s really beautiful,” said one onlooker to VRT. “I mean, it’s too bad that it died, but it’s still really beautiful.”
Normally whales that was ashore are given a name, and scientists are calling the whale Antonius because Wednesday was the feast day of Saint Anthony Mary Claret of Barcelona.
Photo: Kurt Desplenter/BELGA
